Paint In The Style Of: a July of acrylics
Each session, we borrow a great painter's eyes for the day. This July it's acrylics — Monet, Charlie Easton, Glyn Macey and Paul Kenton — plus £6 tasters to get you brave.
The work
Art.
Watercolour, acrylics, oils and mixed media — the work, the articles and the technique behind it. Pick a medium to dive in, or browse the journal below.
Explore by medium
Four ways I work — each with its own articles, demos and notes from the studio.
Watercolour
Loose washes, light on water, and the quiet discipline of restraint.
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Acrylics
Bold colour, fast decisions, and building up layers with confidence.
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Oils
The everyday made beautiful — impasto, palette knife, slow looking.
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Mixed Media
Collage and paint, when one medium simply is not enough.
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More to explore
Beyond the core mediums — illustration projects and teaching resources.
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Children's Books
Illustration projects and the children's-book workshops at the Barn.
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Lesson Plans
Teaching resources and structured plans from twenty years in the classroom.
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Learn with me
Workshops in Cornwall and self-paced online courses — see what's running.
From the journal
Latest articles across every medium — newest first.
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The Drone in the Box
I have a Potensic Atom SE drone. Under 249 grams. 31 minutes flight time. Folds down small enough to fit in a cycling pack.
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Be Yourself, Actually
I was listening to an Adam Buxton podcast — Emma Diddy, as it happened — and she used a phrase that was slightly coarse and completely right. Something you’d only say to…
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You Own More Than You Think
The drone was in its box for fourteen months.
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Draw Something Every Day. Seriously. Just One Thing.
Not a grand artistic statement. Not a finished piece. Just a mark, every day, that proves you showed up.
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Your Brain Is Wired to Miss the Good Stuff. Art Is the Fix.
Your brain is a survival machine. It's been filtering out beauty since the Stone Age.
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Why Your Body Has to Move Before Your Creativity Can
The mind/body/soul connection isn't a wellness cliché — it's a creative operating system.
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What Teaching Art Has Taught Me About Learning Everything
The moment a student picks up a brush for the first time tells you everything about how humans approach change.
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Shiny Is Wet, Matte Is Dry
The one habit that fixes most watercolour mistakes — and it costs you nothing but a second of looking.
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Stop Seeing Colour, Start Seeing Value
The five-tone trick that does more for your painting than any colour you'll ever mix.
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A Plein-Air Kit That Fits on a Bike
Everything you need to paint outdoors, and nothing you don't, packed small enough to ride with.
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Urban Sketching on Location
Pen, ink, a little wash, and the courage to work fast in front of strangers.
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Cornwall's Painting Hotspots: Where to Set Up and What to Look For
A painter's guide to the Cornish coast — St Ives, Bedruthan, Wheal Coates, Charlestown, Fowey, Kynance — and how to paint each one without painting the postcard.
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The Picture-Book Shelf
The books behind the Children's Book Workshop — and why the best picture books are a masterclass in everything art school forgets to teach.
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Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain — the Exercises, in Public
"I can't draw a straight line" is not a verdict. It's a habit. Here are the exercises that break it — free, and in the open.
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A Look At Paul Kenton
One of my art group was particularly taken with the work of Paul Kenton, and why not? Amazing work, huge canvases, very expressive, tour de force in perspective. And so we…
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Impasto St. Michael's Mount Study
An exploration of impasto layering with a palette knife and colour theory exercise experimenting with techniques and their results for a future large scale painting.
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Children's Book Illustration — Finding Your Character
Every character starts with a single line. These sketches are from an ongoing picture book project — building personality through gesture and expression.
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You Don't Have Creative Block. You Have Creative Clog.
Everyone talks about creative block.
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Journey To A Career In Creativity: Phase #2
Hello, and welcome.
Want to learn one of these?
Workshops at the Cornish Craft Barn run through the year, and online courses are on the way. Browse the dates or get in touch.